I loved book 1 and I was worried book 2 wouldn’t live up to it, and although I didn’t love it as much it was still a great sequel! I wished the stakes were a little big higher for the characters and a couple things felt anticlimactic, but I also devoured it and I’m extremely excited for book 3!

This story of dark academia, utter corruption and potentially the end of the world follows directly after the events of The Atlas Six – right after the Six seemingly become five. Only not through the murder that everyone expected to be committed.

And not that the expected victim of that expected murder, Callum Nova, is exactly anyone’s favorite person. Not even Callum himself. If anyone should have, would have been saved it was the missing Libby Rhodes. Who is equally not dead.

She’s furious. Or she would be if her captor wasn’t drugging her into oblivion.

So this story begins in fracture – and the characters just keep right on fracturing from a very inauspicious beginning to the bitter, deadly end.

The library at the heart of the Alexandrian Society may be sentient. It’s certainly hungry. It expects a sacrifice to its altar of knowledge every ten years. A blood sacrifice. A dead medeian (read as mage) to add body (literally) to its spice of knowledge.

Callum wasn’t killed, Libby isn’t dead, so the library spends the entire book getting its pound of flesh in any way it can, causing all of the characters to devolve and fracture over their second year at the Society. It’s not a pretty sight.

As each of the six descends down their own personal rabbit hole of self-involvement mixed with delusions of grandeur and/or inadequacy, refusing to acknowledge the gaping hole in their midst that should be filled by Libby Rhodes, Society Caretaker Atlas Blakely and his former friend turned rival, Ezra Fowler, plot and plan their way to oppose each other’s end-of-the-world scenario.

While Libby Rhodes applies a sharp rock to what’s left of her moral compass so she can power a nuclear blast that will bring her home. To a future that she may yet manage to destroy. If someone else doesn’t beat her to the punch.

Escape Rating C: I’m of two minds when it comes to The Atlas Paradox – even more so than I was after finishing The Atlas Six. Only more so.

Following the story of The Atlas Paradox was like doing “The Masochism Tango” – without even a scintilla of the joy that the masochist singing the song felt.

So why did I keep going? Because the voice actors were every single bit as excellent as they were in The Atlas Six. It’s a pity that they gave their excellence to a work which did not deserve it. (And I continue my frustration that there doesn’t seem to be a complete and definitive list of who is voicing whom.)

What helps make the narration so wonderful – while making the story so frustrating as well as frequently annoying – is that the whole story is told from the inside of the characters’ heads. Every single one of these people is a hot mess, and not in any fun ways at all. They’re also, individually and collectively, utterly morally bankrupt.

So I didn’t like any of them and I didn’t feel for any of them and most importantly, I didn’t CARE about any of them. They are, individually and collectively, self-indulgent, self-absorbed and shallow, and the entirety of this story is spent plumbing the teaspoon-like depths of their shallowness.

The Atlas Six was compulsively readable because so much shit happened, and the breakneck pace made it an absorbing page-turner no matter what genuinely awful people its characters were.

Little seems to actually happen in The Atlas Paradox until nearly the end, at least until it dissolves into a waiting game in preparation for the next book, The Atlas Complex. Which, I have to admit, I probably will listen to in spite of myself. I’m still curious to see how this ends. If it ends at all, and especially if it ends in anything other than the end of the world as they know it.

After all, I expect the narrators to still be utterly excellent, which is still the saving grace of this entire saga.

The Atlas Paradox takes the dramatic, character-study will-they-or-wont-they betrayal story of The Atlas Six and expands into a broader world and a deeper plot. We get a deeper view into the motivators of each character and get little droplets of hints as to the reasons for what happened in book 1.

This book is interesting in that it makes me vaguely dislike every character but keeps me invested in the story, all while following a meandering plot deeply embedded in character study. It was not my favorite book but it was certainly an interesting one, and I appreciate the dynamism of the characters

The first book I enjoyed but didn't love and was hesitant to ask for this one. As I really wanted to love it. Turns out I did enjoy this one more than the first!

Listen. I now that people love these books. I just don’t think they are for me. It is well written and the world building is great. It’s the character’s and how they interact that I just cannot stand. Maybe that’s on purpose. Either way it makes it super hard to get through.

Unfortunately, I tried and tried and I just couldn't get into this story. I felt it was a lot of just going on and on and on about what a character was doing/thinking, but didn't make me feel like there was actual action. I never read the first one, but can't say I liked this story. With a fantasy type adventure like this, I expect to be pulled into this unbelievable world, but instead I just couldn't even keep up with listening because I was bored. Or maybe just from reviews before mine or the hype I had higher expectations. Whatever it was, the writing was detailed, even good, but just not exciting enough.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.

THANK YOU for an outstanding book 2! HIGHLY recommend! Olivia Blake does it again and again - what will she create next?

I was given a NetGalley widget for this one a year ago and I just got around to reading it and dangit it was so good. I am so thankful for the opportunity to have consumed this wildly relevant fictional tale, which felt not at all fictional, more like historical fiction, due to the times. The cover initially was what drew me in, but I'm so thankful to have stuck with it because the outcome was magical. I always love listening to audiobooks and when they sweep me off my feet, I'm just utterly captivated! I always really enjoy multi-cultural thrillers, for I embark on a journey through a land unknown to me, while still getting spooked.

I read the first book and thought it was original, but just okay. It had potential and I had such high hopes for the second one. This one fell even more flat. No plot, the characters continued to not be very flushed out and have depth, and so much dialogue and not much action. I don't think I will continue this series.

The Atlas Paradox is the sequel to Olivia Blake's The Atlas Six. This book continues the story of the remaining recruits as they continue to fight for not only their lives but ultimate victory. They must all make the choice as to if they want to be heros and save the world or burn it to the ground.

When it comes to series, I try and wait until the series is complete to start it because I like to binge read. I hate waiting for the next book. LOL. Sometimes the second book in a series can just land flat. You have all the build up in the first book. You have been left on a cliffhanger. You have ridiculously high expectations.

The second book comes out and you read it. When you finish, you are like well did I like it or not? That is how I am sitting right now. Did I enjoy what I listened to? I think the premise for the story is fantastic and am eager to read the next installment.

Sorry it took so long for feedback. Ended up reading this one as a physical book but as always with Olvie just evenrything and a perfect sequel to this amazing series.

So it’s hard to talk about this book without spoilers, which I am trying very hard to avoid, but: this was overall a great read! If you liked the first book, you’ll like this installment, and if you weren’t sold on the first one (which, to be honest, I wasn’t!), it complicated and deepened the story in really interesting ways, and in general made the series feel stronger, and I’d enthusiastically recommend giving it a shot.

Personally, I definitely liked TAP better than TA6; some characters who were underutilized in the first book (especially Reina) got a lot more development in this one, and it boasted some fascinating and deeply compelling changes in characters and their relationships. (And yes: it gets queerer! 🏳️‍🌈) The ending already has me impatient for the next installment! We also get introduced to some excellent new characters, and the world-building expands in some really intriguing ways. My one qualm is that the pace felt a little uneven (a problem I also had with the first book) – the first two-thirds of the book progressed relatively slowly, but a lot was packed into the final third.

I listened to this book, and the audiobook edition was simply excellent: the full-cast narration was a perfect fit, and the narrators’ performances were wonderfully well-suited to their characters; absolutely no disappointments! I HIGHLY recommend giving this one a read in audio.

Overall: I highly recommend this, and I am eagerly awaiting the trilogy’s conclusion next year. thank you so much to Macmillan Audio/Tor and Netgalley for an ALC of this title!

The first book was good but the start of the second one dragged a bit for me. I put it down and will try to pick it up later.

The Atlas Paradox is a perfect sequel to the beloved The Atlas Six---full of tension and filled to the brim with mindfulness, Olivie crafted a wonderful story to tie up the series finale. While it does suffer from second book syndrome, a little meandering, maybe could've been shorter, it was still a wonderful read, and Olivie's writing style continues to amaze and impress.

I loved the first book and struggles to get into this one. Not sure if it wasn’t just a mood thing. Will try again another time

Why, oh why, must I wait for the final book in the series??!! *weeps in desperation*

This book was just as amazing as the first. Though it did get a bit repetitive. We know, we know, you don’t care Parisa, you can’t be bothered Callum. I would have been more interested in diving into each character’s psyche, not just what they are thinking but why. Nico is obviously ADHD, Libby is walking anxiety, Tristan is the living embodiment of avoidant personality disorder, Parisa is a narcissist and Callum is a sociopath. And Reina is of course autistic. Since the author seems to point out those characteristics in each of them often, I feel like she really wants us to notice this, but I don’t know why. I’m very interested to find out how it feeds the plot.

By far the most interesting character though was Balen. The chapter at the end of the book from her POV was my favorite part of the book, it felt like we were finally coming to the crux of the matter, the underlying theme. But I don’t know because I have to wait for the next book!!! I will say that that ending was absolute FIRE. Cannot WAIT for the next book!!!

This one was much faster paced than the first. No need for exposition or getting to know the characters. It jumped right in. I’m looking forward to the next final installment and to see where these characters take things in the multiverse!!

Sadly this one ended up being a DNF for me. I loved The Atlas Six so much that I wanted to love this one too. But I just found it hard to get into. Maybe I just started reading it at the wrong time. I am going to set it aside for now and pick it back up at another time.

This may be the perfect book for someone else.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book. I do appreciate it.

I was very excited to receive the second part to The Atlas Six, just to see what will happen with the characters. I was not the biggest fan of the first book, mostly because non-existent world building and basically showing no magic but talking about it endlessly.
Furthermore, I would say the Atlas Paradox was so much better than its predecessor and brought me closer to the characters and magic system. Although, as an engineer and mathematician, I must admit that sometimes the physics and theories that the author uses make no sense and using the modern science to base them on, was an overreach. Other than that, I have nothing to say besides that I was not expecting this to be another milestone in the bigger story, and now I am left waiting for the next part.

I am so thrilled to have received an advance copy of The Atlas Paradox, especially since this was an audio version! I've not listed to many audiobooks, but this was the perfect gateway into enjoying a cast of narrators. After thoroughly loving The Atlas Six, I couldn't wait to delve into this sequel. My favorite part of this audio was having a different narrator for each character since the chapters are told in alternating points-of-view. I highly recommend this story and don't want to give too much away- let's just say it was well worth the anticipation!